Event The Fall Ball (The Hunt) Finished

Interacting with @Callista Lovis, tagging @Quinn Smith

Costume Reference

Reducio

Second Location

The events from earlier kept playing over in Robert's mind, like some terrible soundtrack to a movie. Against his will, the memory of the spell shooting out of his wand seemed to be stuck in a loop, with no way out. While before, he'd still been mostly aware of his surroundings, by now he was entirely shut off from the real world, trapped in a waking nightmare. The more times he remembered the events that had just happened, the more he twisted them, forgetting the reasons behind his actions and focusing on the all-consuming fire and verbal abuse. I deserve this, he thought to himself. I did something terrible, and this is the consequence. Once again, he raised his wand, once again, the painting caught fire, once again, the other students yelled at him, and once again, the cycle started over again. I deserve this.

Suddenly, he was violently thrown from his thoughts, pulled back into the real world by the one thing he both longed for and dreaded the most, an act of love from another person. To Robert, Callista's hug was akin to being woken from a dream soaked in freezing water, shaking him unwillingly out of the living hell he was in. The glaring light making him screw his eyes shut didn't help much either. As hard as he tried not to notice, the sweet smell of honey and books assaulted his nose, forcing him to remember happier memories of afternoons spent in the library. Without thinking, he started raising his arms to hug her back, embracing the warmth and concern radiating from every pore of the girl.

However, with a willpower Robert didn't think he had, the boy stopped his arms from moving, stopped himself from achieving happiness he didn't believe he deserved. "No..." he muttered. "No," this time with more conviction. Wrenching himself away from his friend, he was flooded with relief as the warmth receded, as the coldness enveloped him in a much different embrace than he'd been in moments earlier. If any spark had momentarily returned to his eyes, it was quickly doused again. This is better, he thought to himself.

Realizing that there was nothing left for him to do here, he began walking away, letting his feet carry him where they would. If anyone were to try and get his attention or interact with him, he would studiously ignore them, avoid eye contact, bow his head, and keep walking. Eventually, he would make his way up to the outside of the Ravenclaw common room, where, not caring enough to think through any riddle the door where to give him, he would sink to the floor. Burying his head in his arms, he returned to his self-inflicted mental torturing. I deserve this.

────── ☆ ───────

[font=times new roman]third location
OCTOBER 16TH
Roleplaying as PC, Scarlett Aden
Interactions @Lucia Fox , Gaiz Toa
Open to Interaction

Gaiz's eyes turned sad, almost wistful as Scarlett asked him about Giselle. He didn't seem to be angry anymore, his fury almost dissolving out of him as he looked into the distance like a corny romance movie and sighed, talking about how Giselle was his 'one and only' but how that was over and he should've moved on. Scarlett felt a little pang in her heart at the pathetic sight of the man who was raging mad a few seconds ago, now deflated - defeated - just at one mention of his long-lost love. Strangely, sympathy crept up upon her, but at that moment, her friend Cassie frowned, and began to talk to Scarlett, informing her that the Giselle girl was just down the corner. Oh. Well in that case-

"Absolute genius Cassie!" said Scarlett excitedly, albeit a bit loudly. "Okay Gaiz, you are going to go over to Giselle's portrait and we'll work things out."

Scarlett followed Cassie, not daring to offer to carry the portrait because though she was a Beater, her strength wasn't amazing yet. She was working on it though! Once they got there (the location was rather obvious from the students milling about it), Scarlett's mouth dropped open in shock. There wasn't any painting! Or portrait! Or anything? Except - except a little note. Scarlett inspected the note, something about the beginning of Pain - in capitals - and a thief, a ball...what? Scarlett didn't understand. All she could do was study it, and pray her mind came up with something.

────── ☆ ───────

Action Searching the note for clues
Stats Stamina | 7 | Evasion | 5 | Strength | 6 | Wisdom | 6 | Arcane Power | 9 | Accuracy | 7
Abilities Prodigal Charms Learner, Fearless

_{Banner Credited to the amazing @Amara Dragamior}

As Henry Knight: Main Character

Open to Interactions
interacting: @Scarlett Aden |
Mentioning: @Cassandra Ironwoods | @Caelan Stewart
Action: Failing to control his anxiety, about to have a panic attack, [leaving the hunt[/b]
For Mods:

Reducio

Stats: Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 10 | Arcane Power: 5 | Accuracy: 6 | Total: 36
Abilities+Race: Prodigal Charms Learner+Werewolf

Pendant (hidden under his robes)
Brooch

Second Location

Henry looked for clues but couldn't help but feel a sense of panic as his anxiety suddenly increased. His eyes scanned for any clues but he couldn't extract find any as he turned anyway from the rather rude portal and decided to go off alone to the next location. As he walked his breathing increased and back of his neck tickled with sweat as his eyes scanned each part of the room with thoughts entering his mind and situations making his anxiety increase and likely to have a panic attack go up with it.

Third Location

Arriving at the third location, Henry ran his hand along the wall as a way to control hid anxiety and hide his emotions which was looking to a certain extent as his breathing quicken and thoughts flashed by his eyes so fast that it was starting to make him dizzy forcing him to lean his hand on the wall to support his weight as his anxiety increased and looking up at the others something invisible appeared around him. Almost like a barrier, blocking out other's words along with a blinding light that only he could see making him squint his eyes as he slowly started to black out. Shaking his head a bit and more a moment retuning to reality as he looked around and failed to find Nick a thought appeared in his mind as he wondered where his friend was before looking around for Cash and again not able to find the fellow slytherin. So Henry then approached Scarlett and let his eyes scan around the room before he whispered so low that only her perhaps barley could hear, "I'm uh going for reasons, good luck with the rest of this and tell me what happens later," giving the red head a half smile as his anxiety was now clearing soaking into the tweens face before whispering again to the girl, " see you later Scar," before turning and leaving the rest of the group letting his breath quicken as he pulled at his shit collar and loosen a but before almost running outside and finally breathing in larger breaths before taking off his mask and holding his hands behind his head.

_{Henry has left the thread}

"Sorry! Sorry!" Cassie gasped out as the painting's two occupants screamed clutched each other for support. "Sorry, I just- Can you-" she gave up. "Eh, just hold on or something I guess..." The muggleborn gave the girl in the painting a wince. "I'm sorry... this isn't really about you, is it?"

Cassie lead the way down the corridor, trying to remember the way the ghostly cat had gone. She didn't know how to navigate Hogwarts, but luckily she had Scarlett with her, who had already gone there for a year and probably knew her way around. Cassie was a little slower than she usually would have been from lugging the painting around with her, but she was quite strong and could handle it. "Bet this sort of thing doesn't usually happen in Hogwarts, huh?" she asked her friend wryly. "Way more exciting that Beauxbatons. Y'know, we have a whole magical arts class? Utter waste of time, who cares about art when there's magic?"

They arrived at Giselle's painting soon enough... but where was it? It appeared that a note had been pinned in its place, and Cassie couldn't figure out what any of it meant. "'Scuse me, comin' through," she said as she manuvered her way through the crowd of students, carrying the painting with her. With an effort, she held it up so that Gaiz could read the parchment. "Know anythin' 'bout that, Mr One True Love?"

As Lindsey Springhall | open to interactions
Interacting with @Wyatt Starkey

No. There was nothing else to see, except that the lines were oddly smudged. It was definitely not caused by accident — like someone spilled their milk or juice on it. It was caused…by magic.

Frowning a bit, she looked at the note again. Anastasia Beckett had just casted a Revelio, right? But it didn’t work somehow. Her brows knitted. Maybe she should try it herself this time…casting spells wasn’t really a thing for her, or was it? Still she believed there was a chance that each line represented a spell, and…what if they casted them one by one?

She began correcting herself on what the first spells was. Incendio…no, maybe. The “P” of pain was capitalized. So maybe the spell started with P? And it would cause pain…she half closed her eyes. Could it be…Periculum? No. Periculum wouldn’t cause pain. It would simply call for help. And if she casted the spell, would it be sort of signal? Would the evil force all come out when she cast the spell? Lindsey didn’t know. But somehow she believed that it was the right spell.

“I don’t know what will happen…but…” she struggled. The words seemed saying to Wyatt, but actually, people near her could hear as well. “These lines were spells. I don’t know why, but I think it would help us solving all these…” and then she started firmly. “We should cast the spells by all means. Maybe something bad would happen, but we have to do it. We have no choice.” And she raised her wand up, pointed at the roof. “I…I think I’d like to give my guessing a try. I’m sorry if I was wrong…”

“Periculum.” she pronounced clearly. Hopefully it wouldn’t do any harm and could even call some professors to help. She had been solving the riddle for a long time, and now it was the time to carry out her guessing…even if this spell summoned some evil forces, she hoped that it could be worth it. And she would definitely be fighting to her last minute. But pray, do let nothing harmful happen…hopefully…hopefully…

Action: convincing herself that her action was right, casting Periculum
Location: third location
Stats: Stamina 7 | Evasion 6 | Strength 8 | Wisdom 7 | Arcane Power 6 | Accuracy 8
Abilities: Statistically Relevant | Lovely Creature

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Reducio

ALLY LIST
-Wyatt Starkey
-Elizabeth Isaacs
-Scarlett Aden
-Leonard Oaksworth
-Marshal Mozor
-Casandra Ironwoods
-Mars T’ien

MODERATION POST

Moderation Post Tracker:
[Start] [Interlude] [First] [Note] [Second] [Third] [Fourth] [Fifth] [Sixth] [Seventh]

ON THE WAY

@Elspeth Blaine had almost lost the group that was already on its way to the Gryffindor Common Room. Well, at least she hadn’t set Maggie on fire. Hopefully, none of these other people would step on her beloved pet. Better to stay with them, maybe her pet was running in the same direction…
On her way she would notice odd lights flickering at the edge of her peripheral vision. There was one, right at the corner to the next corridor! And was there another one, just up the stairs? What were those?

SECOND LOCATION

Even though @Callista Lovis tried her best to clam poor @Robert Toukmond down, the whole situation was just too overwhelming for the young Ravenclaw boy. There was only one word on his lips. No. He would break away from the group, a sad and anxious banana, returning to his own Common Room to indulge in self-punishment there. Don’t worry, Robert. You are not the first and certainly not the last person who set something on fire here.

Another boy was struggling with the situation, losing his alpha spirit: @Henry Knight. He couldn’t make any sense of the situation and suddenly he felt the panic attack coming. Well, that was nothing for the group to see, so he would apologize and break away as well.

@Dealla Prince, who had accompanied Ruka, stayed with the boy who had decided to leave just when it had gotten interesting. If she just stayed a little longer she would have noticed that something was going wrong - not planned at all - but she didn’t.

THIRD LOCATION

@Starlee Kennedy had really not had any luck so far. Everything she had tried so far had failed. Well, maybe it was time to leave the drama of the painting be and take care of her very own drama. It was time to make peace with the new leader of the group, @Martyna Romero. Good she had some fun stories about her failed actions to lighten the mood.

Cassie Heather McGregor Martin (@Lucia Fox) and @Scarlett Aden had taken the painting that Gaiz had taken refuge in off the wall, and decided to just take it with them. Maybe he should talk to Giselle? Maybe it would reveal new information if they confronted each other? While Scarlett was suddenly gripped by compassion for the pathetic man, Cassie was mostly excited about the adventure. Hogwarts seemed a lot more fun than Beauxbatons.

Cassie carries the painting
Strength Roll (DC 10): 20

They managed to get the painting over into the next corridor without a hitch, only to notice - Giselle was gone! But maybe Gaiz knew something about it? She decided to show him the riddle.
The man, who had already been set on fire, almost been pushed out of the portrait, wrinkled his nose and shook his head. After all this, his willingness to cooperate was not really high.
”I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean! But where is Giselle?! Who took the painting of the girl? She should be here!”

In the meantime, Scarlett decided to take a closer look at the note.

Observation Roll (DC 15+2 (Lovely Creature)): 10

Sadly, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

@Alec Mason had been rather quiet throughout the hunt so far, following along but not saying much. He didn’t need to feel bad, though - it was never too late to do something useful! Leaving @Marshal Mozor and @Leonard Oaksworth behind, he went along with the group. Looking at the odd note, Alec had the thought that it should maybe be a hint to a location or person, because what would they do with a list of spells? He took a closer look.

Observation Roll (DC 15+2 (Lovely Creature)): 22
Clue: [owl]

Maybe he was on the right track…?

@Lindsey Springhall’s thoughts followed a different line. She was very certain that each line signified a spell. If it was a list of spells, she mentioned to @Wyatt Starkey, maybe… they were supposed to cast them? The beginning of Pain… P as in Periculum? She had to try.

Lindsey casts Periculum (DC 7+2 (Lovely Creature))
Wisdom Roll: nat 20

The fireworks springing from the tip of her wand were truly magnificent. Bright red sparks exploded below the ceiling and then stayed there, hovering, illuminating the scene in an eerie red light. Anyone outside, looking at the window, would maybe get some joy from watching such a display of magical prowess. Sadly… nothing else seemed to happen.

@Anastasia Beckett, too, was growing increasingly frustrated. Nothing seemed to be working out, and now she’d even failed a darned second year spell. But she wasn’t going to give up that easily. She tried again.

Anastasia casts Revelio (DC 11+2 (Lovely Creature))
Wisdom Roll: 20
Accuracy (DC 12): 25

Her persistence paid off. A blue light shot from the tip of her wand, hitting the piece of paper, and suddenly, the smudged lines were clearing up - revealing one letter each.

1. The beginning of Pain
2. A thief’s helper
R
E
5. A ball’s for Dancing
A
7. Flipendo!
8. Protection from Horror
R
S
empty line
11. Blindness
12. First Aid
F
I
C
E

WHAT HAPPENED SO FAR…

OOC Information:

• From now on, please state where you are above your post (e.g. First Location, On the way, Second Location)
• If you have the ability Lovely Creature, Calming Presence or Charmer, and you haven’t done so yet, please define your allies in your next post. This decision applies from the next moderation post to the end of the thread.
• This thread is now closed for new people to join.
  • Anyone who stated they are joining before the respective deadlines is assumed to be with the group and can post.
  • Exceptions for people who did not state they are joining before the deadline can be made if you have an IC explanation for how your character knows where to find the group. In that case, please contact us for permission.
• The next moderation will take place on January 9th. Happy new year!
• This is a moderated event, please state your actions (spells, attacks, observation attempts) accordingly. We will be rolling for them during moderation. You only have one action per moderation post.
• You can return to the Costume Party and the Masquerade at any point (as long as you're not involved in combat )
• If you have any questions feel free to owl Dealla Prince or Ileen Knight.

lettering in header done by the wonderful serena towers

Action: Attempting to go the second location. Maybe getting lost in the process? Up to the mods.

stats stamina: 7 evasion: 8 strength: 15 wisdom: 5 arcane power: 3 accuracy: 12

abilities the martial artist prodigal transfiguration learner spell spread

the masquerade ⓢ ⓒ ⓐ ⓢ ⓒ ⓐ the hunt ⓐ ⓒ ⓐ ⓒ ⓐ

Interactions:
N/A
Mentions:
@Robert Toukmond | @Henry Knight | @Kara Capricorn | Cassie Heather McGregor Martin @Lucia Fox |
@Lindsey Springhall | @Anastasia Beckett | @Elisabeth Erner | Gregorí Erkens @Ginevra Tsuchiya
Tagging:
@Quinn Smith
-Open to interactions-
Actions:
Feeling lost | Thinking over the clues | Following Elisabeth and Gregori (hopefully) to the Fourth Location

Moderation:

Reducio

Stats:
Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 6 | Accuracy: 7
Abilities:
Perfectionist

Second Location

For a brief second, Callista thought it had worked. And then the arms dropped and he pushed her away. Watching him walk off was excruciating. She wanted to go after him. To follow him and hold him again until he was okay. But she couldn't, and she knew it. Doing so would mean giving up on the mystery. Doing so would mean never knowing the answer. Doing so would be like not finishing a book. And Callista couldn't do that. The best thing to do was let Robert leave.

Don't think that Callista didn't care about Robert. She did, more now than ever. It went beyond him being her first friend here. It was so wonderful to hug someone again, and the fact that she had done it, without hesitation, showed a lot about how she felt and how she had grown.

Feeling lost without her everlasting companion, she looked around blankly. Now what? It took her a couple minutes to realize that there were some people heading away from the portrait. Callista looked around for Henry again, but he seemed to have disappeared. The other girl, Kara, was gone as well.

She supposed the only thing to do was move on - it took her another couple of seconds to realize that they were heading for Giselle's portrait. She let the crowd carry her onwards. The show must go on.

Third Location

When Callista arrived at the spot, she blinked. There wasn't a portrait... Instead, there was a note. Some girl [Cassie Heather McGregor Martin] had taken the portrait of Gaiz Toa, but clearly his love wasn't there. Callista leaned closer to the wall to take a good look at it.

There seemed to be contemplation of spells or letters. She was personally leaning towards letters. There was an empty line - that was probably a space between two words. The swift vanishing of Robert and Henry temporarily took a backseat as Callista's mind turned.

It seemed to be a summary of what had happened to Giselle. The smudged out lines made things difficult - it didn't seem to make up any word. A girl next to her [Lindsey Springhall] tried to cast Periculum - perhaps she had gotten that from the first line. It was a brilliant shower of sparks, but nothing happened. It only seemed to further confirm Callista's suspicion.

Thankfully the older girl from before [Anastasia Beckett] cast Revelio. With a grin, Callista realized it was a location. To be specific, an office. The second word certainly seemed to be "office", but the first word she wasn't sure.

Yet another girl next to her [Elisabeth Erner] cried out that it was the caretaker's office. It certainly fit with the revealed letters, but Callista couldn't figure out how each letter corresponded with the hint, which frustrated her.

1. The beginning of Pain... how could that be C? Unless it's "I can see the beginning of pain"?
2. A thief’s helper... A doesn't make sense. It couldn't be the first letter of the line. Unless... well, "A" looks a little like a ladder. Is a ladder a thief's helper?
R
E
5. A ball’s for Dancing... how is that T?
A
7. Flipendo!... K makes no sense. Unless it's, like... KO? As in, "I KOed someone with Flipeno"? It was a long shot.
8. Protection from Horror... why is it E?
R
S
empty line
11. Blindness... Perhaps an O as in an eye.
12. First Aid... F is the beginning of the line... but C, T, K, E, and O weren't the beginning of their lines, so why is it that line 2 and 12 have that?
F
I
C
E

Oh, how she wished she had brought a quill and parchment.

Regardless... it fit, so Callista supposed it was worth a shot following that girl [Elisabeth Erner] and the boy she took with her [Gregorí Erkens]. Besides, she would know they were going the right way if Star stood up to go with them. It couldn't possibly hurt.

Post Tracker:
Costume Party:
[X] | [X] | [X]

Hunt:
First Location
[X] | [X] | [X]
Second Location
[X] | [X] | [X]
[X] | [X]
Third Location
[X]

Outfit:

Reducio

Soft ringlets

Elegant silver masquerade mask

White Cardigan

Simple silver Circlet

Silver leaves bracelet

Soft blush pink flats

Gaiz Toa, after all he had been through, didn't seem willing to co-oporate. Cassie Heather didn't care about whether he wanted to or not, though, he was going to! Had he forgotten what he had done to the poor man downstairs (Cassie suddenly realised, with a rush of guilt, that she had already forgotten his name), or was his heart painted so black that he just didn't care? Cassie gave the painting a little shake, deciding that intimidation was the easiest option here. "Well, if you wanna find your dear Giselle, you'd better help us, okay! Or do you not have two brain cells to rub together? I wouldn't be surprised."

Some show-off decided to spray pretty red sparks in the air, and Cassie grumbled under her breath, "Just like the ones at Beauxbatons, always casting fancy spells just to prove they can..." However, that didn't stop her from gazing up at the sparks rather hungrily. No matter how much she tried not to care, inside Cassie really did want to be good at spells. What was the use in discovering a wonderful, magical world if you couldn't even do magic very well? Broom racing, Cassie told herself. You're good at that; you're good at flying. And potions - you're good at potions. Stop wanting what you can't have. She tore her eyes away from the sparks and turned to Scarlett.

At that point, however, some dark-haired girl in a fancy white dress gasped out a new location, following it up with a recomendation to follow her as she took off. Cassie frowned to Scarlett, completely ignoring Gaiz. "How'd that work? None of that has anything to do with caretakers or... anything really! It's just a jumble of nonsense." Still, though, the thirteen-year-old looked closer at the list. "Oh hey, the smudgy bits've cleared up! Wonder who did that... The last bit works, look - F, I, C, E. But that could mean anything!"
She read the list again.

1. C - The beginning of Pain. Whaaa...
2. A - A thief’s helper Like... the first letter?
3. R
4. E
5. T - A ball’s for Dancing There was something here... What was it?!
6. A
7. K - Flipendo! Uh-
8. E - Protection from Horror. How where they linked?!
9. R
10. S
11. empty line Huh? Oh wait... That's the space, right?
12. O - Blindness What?!
13. F - First Aid So... The first letter again?
14. F
15. I
16. C
17. E

"There's something here..." Cassie Heather muttered to herself. "I'm sure there is... T, Dancing... T, Dancing...Ta... Tara... Tarantallegra!" Cassie said in triumph. "Scar, that's the Dancing-Feet Spell! Took me ages to learn but it's brill! And it fits!" Practically bouncing with excitement now, Cassie leaned the painting with Gaiz in it on the wall for a moment to give herself a break and looked down the list again. "Wha'd'ya think, Lettie?" She frowned.
"I can't think of any of these... Oh!" The muggleborn pointed at the second line. "Alohamora, right? The lock-opening one?" Finally remembering Gaiz and his companion, Cassie Heather looked down at the painting. She didn't bother to crouch to their height. "You two've been here longer than both'a us, I bet, so d'you know anything that fits?"